2011 Summer Reading

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." ~John Lubbock (1834-1913) English biologist and politician

Sherry Norton recommends...
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Emma Hunt's son Jacob, who has Asperger's syndrome and occasionally tries helping the police with his unique forensic analysis abilities, falls under suspicion when a murder occurs in town, reminding Emma of society's--and the legal system's--misunderstanding with regard to the behavioral cues associated with Asperger's.



Sherry Norton also recommends...
Love, Ellen; A Mother/Daughter Journey by Betty DeGeneres
Love, Ellen is the story of the extraordinary bond of love between Betty DeGeneres and her daughter, Ellen. It's an intimate look at a celebrated family that lived a very typical American life. And it is the chronicle of a remarkable friendship that grew stronger as mother daughter learned to be more honest with each other, and more honest with themselves.




Sherry Norton also recommends...
Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
In the summer of 1942, the French police arrested thousands of Jewish families and held them outside of Paris before shipping them off to Auschwitz. On the 60th anniversary of the roundups, an expatriate American journalist covering the atrocities discovers a personal connection—her apartment was formerly occupied by one such family. She resolves to find out what happened to Sarah, the 10-year-old daughter, who was the only family member to survive. The story is heart-wrenching, and Polly Stone gives an excellent performance, keeping a low-key tone through descriptions of horror that would elicit excessive dramatics from a less talented performer. Her characters are easy to differentiate, and her French accent is convincing. De Rosnay's novel is captivating, and the powerful narration gives it even greater impact.

Brian Smith recommends...
Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota by Chuck Klosterman
A funny book about music, pop culture, and being a teenager.






Cyd Smith recommends...
A Season of Life: A Football Star, A Boy, A Journey to Manhood by Jeffrey Marx
Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman high school football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. Love? A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life. Season of Life is his inspirational story as told by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, who was a ballboy for the Colts when he first met Ehrmann.



Cyd Smith also recommends...
God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time by Desmond Tutu
Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu has long been admired throughout the world for the heroism and grace he exhibited while encouraging countless South Africans in their struggle for human rights. In God Has a Dream, his most soul-searching book, he shares the spiritual message that guided him through those troubled times. Drawing on personal and historical examples, Archbishop Tutu reaches out to readers of all religious backgrounds, showing how individual and global suffering can be transformed into joy and redemption. With his characteristic humor, Tutu offers an extremely personal and liberating message. He helps us to “see with the eyes of the heart” and to cultivate the qualities of love, forgiveness, humility, generosity, and courage that we need to change ourselves and our world.

Molly Lazer recommends...
House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
This novel crosses the line between reality and science fiction, showing an alternate version of North America ravaged by drug trade, in which the rich are able to create clones of themselves to harvest for organs to ensure that they can live forever. House of the Scorpion follows one of these clones, Matteo Alacran, as he discovers who he really is and embarks on a journey to save himself and his friends.



Molly Lazer also recommends...
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party
and Vol. 2: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson
This pair of novels follows young Octavian as he grows up in Revolutionary Boston, discovering the truth about who he is, the history of his family, and what his purpose is in life. The books deal with the ideas of slavery and freedom, both in terms of Octavian becoming free from his masters and the United States fighting for its freedom from Britain.



Randi Wall recommends...
It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
Craig Gilner is a gifted 15-year-old boy who works hard to get into a fiercely competitive high school, then crumbles under the intense academic pressure. Blindsided by his inability to excel and terrified by thoughts of suicide, Craig checks into a psychiatric hospital where he finally gets the help he needs. Vizzini, who himself spent a brief time in psychiatric "stir," invests his novel with great emotional honesty.




Randi Wall also recommends...
Bossypants by Tina Fey
In her acceptance speech for Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Tina Fey announced that she was proud to make her home in "the 'not-real America'." It is perhaps that healthy sense of incongruity that makes the head writer, executive producer, and star of NBC's Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock such a cogent observer of the contemporary scene. Bossypants, her entertaining new memoir, shows that strangeness has been her constant companion. Fey's stories about her childhood in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania are only appetizers for LOL forays into her college disasters, honeymoon catastrophes, and Saturday Night Live shenanigans.